Utah immigration bill seeks middle ground in debate

By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

In state legislatures across the country, most of the immigration bills being debated aim to crack down on illegal immigration. Legislators are trying to cut off illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits, deny their U.S.-born children citizenship and force them out of states by granting local police the power to enforce immigration laws.

By Scott Sommerdorf, AP

Protesters rally for immigrant rights at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City last month. The state is trying to find constructive wasy to handle immigration.

Protesters rally for immigrant rights at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City last month. The state is trying to find constructive wasy to handle immigration.

One bill filed in Utah is being viewed as the possible middle ground that has proven so elusive in a hyper-charged immigration discussion.

The Utah bill, known as the Pilot Accountability Permit Program, would grant work permits to illegal immigrants so they could legally work in the state but would require them to undergo criminal background checks, pay taxes and take English classes, and it would force them to leave the state if they lose their jobs.

Under the legislation, the state would report illegal immigrants who commit a major crime to the federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agency.

"It is very rare," Eric Rodriguez, vice president of public policy for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group, said of the bill. "It just feels more meaningful than what we've seen in other states."

The bill was co-sponsored by state Sen. Luz Robles, a Democrat, and state Rep. Jeremy Peterson, a Republican, and has the backing of a conservative think tank in Utah.

Paul Mero, director of the conservative Sutherland Institute, said he became disheartened by the dozens of bills flowing through the Utah Capitol and other state legislatures that focused on trying to catch and deport illegal immigrants. He said the immigration system needs to be fixed by Congress, but meanwhile, Utah should focus on constructive ways to deal with the 110,000 illegal immigrants living in the state.

"You really have two paths," Mero said. "The one path leads to rounding them up or starving them out. Or, you can actually go down this other path of rationality and practicality."

Even though it has bipartisan support in Utah, it is receiving bipartisan criticism from outside.

Illegal immigration in Utah

There were about 11.2 million illegal immigrants in the USA in 2010. The estimated number of illegal immigrants in Utah for selected years:

1990: 15,000

2000: 65,000

2005: 95,000

2007: 120,000

2010: 110,000

Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, which supports a path for some illegal immigrants to become citizens, was pleased by the general direction of the bill, but worried that some of the enforcement portions of the bill may go too far.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates lower levels of immigration, said the core of the bill is unconstitutional because states cannot regulate immigration numbers.

He called the bill "de facto amnesty" and considered it a political gesture since it has little chance of surviving legal challenges.

Robles acknowledged that her proposal delves into uncharted legal territory and said that the state would need a waiver from the federal government to implement it.

Even so, she said she is confident the legislation would survive constitutional challenges since it doesn't alter the immigration status of illegal immigrants and her state has been providing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants for years.

Robles said legislators from six states have inquired about the bill. And no matter the outcome of her bill, she said she hopes it changes the tone of the national immigration debate.

"People are realizing that the extremes are just not going to work," Robles said. "You're seeing a shift on how people are talking about this issue."

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